Weekend Getaways near Gleneagles

About Gleneagles

The drive to Gleneagles made my heart glad because the beautiful countryside provided some of the kind of natural beauty that inspired me to write this post last year. It was both new, and familiar, and very inspiring. Though I couldn’t have imagined what fun awaited us when we arrived at Gleneagles. First, we had a Falconry lesson. It’s something I’ve always yearned to do yet believed wasn’t possible unless I visited the middle east, maybe a country like Jordan. I also had my doubts about the treatment of the birds but my mind was settled when I saw firsthand, and learned about, what great lengths they go to in order to take care of and fairly treat their hawks.

Thank you!

After a fill of history, scotch and scrumptious food, keep the last day on the Scotland itinerary to relax and enjoy a slow pace. Take a train from Inverness to Glasgow (it will take about 3 and a half hours). Once there, spend the day taking in the sights and sounds of the city.Read More

After a fill of history, scotch and scrumptious food, keep the last day on the Scotland itinerary to relax and enjoy a slow pace. Take a train from Inverness to Glasgow (it will take about 3 and a half hours). Once there, spend the day taking in the sights and sounds of the city.

GLASGOW :Where to stay : Euro Hostel Glasgow. Costed roughly £15 per night.One day is pretty much enough for Glasgow. Major points of interest includes People's Palace and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Botanical Garden. Everything is pretty much located within the vicinity and can be done in a day. I highly suggest end the day by the riverside for typical Scottish musicals by local musicians and some great food.

We are up and ready to catch our train to Glasgow at 6.45am. It's about 4 hours journey from Inverness to Glasgow, the train was on time and we reach Glasgow around 11am. Glasgow is one of the biggest industrial town of Britain, it's got the characteristic of any other city, so i would not say there is anything special about Glasgow. There are some monuments and heritage structures which can be explored and as always we preferred to walk around the city to explore these sites.We reached a open garden and it started raining here, it wasn't surprising, as in Britain it can rain anytime round the year, so it is suggested to carry windsheaters with you, for us this was the only time it rained. We took shelter under a big tree and me and Wifey took out our beer cans and started sipping on some beer. When it stopped drizzling, we walked ahead and reached a beautiful museum, which showcased the absolute history of Glasgow. It was quite a good experience knowing the city so well.After the museum we walked through the market of Glasgow and finally we decided to reach the train station as we had a train to catch to go to the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. Trains leave at an interval of every 15 minutes from Glasgow to Edinburgh. We reached Edinburgh at around 2.30 in the afternoon, we were not really very hungry so we decided to pick up some sandwiches to eat. It was suggested by friends to explore Edinburgh, so we decided to take this special city tour bus. We paid 20 Pounds per person for this double-decker city tour bus which had open roof tops and it takes you on a 1 hour city tour with a recorded voice talking to you about the monument or place you are passing through.

I had a conference at Glasgow. So that's where my trip began. I started off there visiting all the beautiful places in Glasgow – Kelvingrove museum, Glasgow uni, Sauchiehall Street (most happenin' place in Glasgow).

It is the largest city in Scotland. A city with history ,it has a character of its own. A little different from the metropolitan cities elsewhere but also similar in a lot of ways. It reminds one of a bygone era and at the same time keeps them in the present.
Source Lighthouse - overviewing Glasgow
Author Maciej Żytniewski from Galway, Ireland

For all lucky Harry Potter fans, you may have heard of Warner Brother Studios which has most of the Harry Potter sets and costumes and is just two hours away from the heart of London. For all Titanic fans who have seen the Titanic multiple times, here's the ultimate way for you to express your fandom. Belfast is a small town in Ireland where the Titanic was built. It is small but it is still the largest city and the capital of Northern Ireland. The entire town has remnants of the Titanic ranging from mementos to a small ship making factory to museums dedicated to the Titanic. Read More

For all lucky Harry Potter fans, you may have heard of Warner Brother Studios which has most of the Harry Potter sets and costumes and is just two hours away from the heart of London. For all Titanic fans who have seen the Titanic multiple times, here's the ultimate way for you to express your fandom. Belfast is a small town in Ireland where the Titanic was built. It is small but it is still the largest city and the capital of Northern Ireland. The entire town has remnants of the Titanic ranging from mementos to a small ship making factory to museums dedicated to the Titanic.

BelfastI spend the day chilling around my hostel and trying out some local food, however you can use it to go check the Photography Museum or Royal Court of Justice. Later, in the afternoon, me and a couple of people decided to go hike up a nearby mountain and its worth it. Gives a whole view of Belfast and can be much of a change from everyday tourist things.

BELFASTGETTING THERE : A lot of flights fly out to Belfast from Edinburgh and cost as low as £30.WHERE TO STAY : Vagabonds. Costs around £20 per night.Belfast is a very small English area, also the capital of Northern Ireland. Major reference of Belfast is Titanic. Yep, there is a museum of ruins from Titanic and some other ships. Just like every other English city this is also famous for castles and cathedrals and town halls. I would pretty much suggest you to walk around the place and visit places of interest if you do not want to repeat a castle or cathedral visit. There is a big fish and tower clock photo stops along with some other local architecture stops. Its famous for its Titanic and Rifle museum.

A beautiful coastal down and looked a bit old too. I noticed that most buildings in Scotland were made of gray brick! I picked up some funky hair scrungies, a CD and headed back to the train station. The people present there had a good laugh as I tried to put my backpack on.

Deep in the Scottish Highlands, along a cold mountain stream lies a beautiful little town. A town surrounded by misty mountains, where an imposing castle stands tall overlooking houses that look like tiny matchboxes stacked to perfection. A town where people work during the day and spend the evenings angling in the Ness river which flows right through it. A town consisting of beautiful little cafes, hauntingly pretty alleys and a lush green forested area. Yes I am taking about the jewel in the crown of the Scottish Highlands – InvernessLocated in the far north of the United Kingdom, this place is one where the term “Heaven on Earth” might just stand true and I feel blessed that I have been able to spend a couple of days in this “paradise”In the paragraphs below I will attempt to describe this beauty as much as I can and although what the eyes saw might be tough to replicate in words, I will let my pictures do the talking.Read More

Deep in the Scottish Highlands, along a cold mountain stream lies a beautiful little town. A town surrounded by misty mountains, where an imposing castle stands tall overlooking houses that look like tiny matchboxes stacked to perfection. A town where people work during the day and spend the evenings angling in the Ness river which flows right through it. A town consisting of beautiful little cafes, hauntingly pretty alleys and a lush green forested area. Yes I am taking about the jewel in the crown of the Scottish Highlands – InvernessLocated in the far north of the United Kingdom, this place is one where the term “Heaven on Earth” might just stand true and I feel blessed that I have been able to spend a couple of days in this “paradise”In the paragraphs below I will attempt to describe this beauty as much as I can and although what the eyes saw might be tough to replicate in words, I will let my pictures do the talking.

#CoffeewithTripotoComing back with a blog after an eternity seems like a task, rather it actually is one. I had to spend hours thinking about a perfect start for this beautiful piece. No, I am not being biased towards my writing that too prior to completing it rather I am referring to it as beautiful, for it involves a story of travelling through a beautiful place that also hosts a house I intend to have as my retirement home.Nestled amidst the ‘Scottish Highlands’ lies a place I explored this turn, which goes by the name ‘Inverness’.The first question that popped in my head as soon as I stepped in ‘Inverness’ was, what should I refer the place as? Hamlet? Well the place has a lot of churches, dictionary says I can’t use the word in that case.City? Really? But, I missed the normal hustle and bustle here, may be Town? I guess yes, it fits.So there I was visiting this town located north in Scotland almost opening out to the Atlantic Ocean. I was travelling as part of a group that had three people, other two being two of my favourite people on earth.We took a train from Edinburgh to reach this town, hostel was pre booked and was centrally located.

Day 1: Inverness Castle - Located in the centre of the town the castle occupies a comfortable position on a hill top. I say comfortable, for the view it offered to its inhabitants was good enough to gauge the status of the entire town, and this I know because it didn’t disappoint us who were mere visitors to the place. The view this place offers can totally serve as the setting for a writers new story or a directors new project.Mesmerised we stood there for a while watching the water flow and the seagulls play. I could only attempt at capturing what my eyes saw, in the form of pictures put below. Yes I am cheating, I am referring you to the pictures since I am no poet nor a writer and hence not adept at describing the beauty and tranquility of the place well enough that would make me feel I did justice to it. See yourself and decide.

Days 12 to 14There are two ways to look at my stay in Inverness. One way is to focus on the negativity that permeates this entire town and its people, to the extent that as a solo traveller I began getting worried about my safety even while having a sip of coffee during the day. The other way is to remember that in this same town are people who stood up to those acting weird and helped me out. So, in many ways, Inverness proved to be a metaphor for life in Britain, for tourists, travellers and ‘immigrants’. Now, what remains to be seen is which side will reach the so-called ‘critical mass’ and tip the balance for or against bigotry masquerading as nationalism and paranoia and violent opportunism posing as tribalism and ‘closed border’ policies.

INVERNESSGetting there : There are buses going to Inverness everyday from the main station of Glasgow to InvernessWhere to stay : Inverness Tourist Hostel. Costed roughly £12 per night.Things to do : Inverness is legit the star location of Scotland. Every goddamn story about Scottish highlands to exotic locations, everything is on Inverness. And, yeah you can go monster searching at Lochness. Cool no?

We reach Inverness in Scotland at 6am in the morning and our first priority was to look for a B&B (Bed & Breakfast) as we had decided to stay overnight in Inverness. B&B is basically a house were you get a room to stay overnight with breakfast. The charges may range between 30-50 Pounds depending on the facilities available; bargaining is not really a possibility as these places go full round the year. After checking out some 5-6 places we settled for a place very close to the train station as we had a train next day morning at 7.30 am to Glasgow. The place we stayed was owned by a lady, who had a huge dog;). She offered us a nice cozy room for 50 pounds a night. The overnight train journey was very relaxing and we had a good sleep to, so we were all fresh and ready for our day ahead in Inverness. The lady of the house offered us our morning breakfast; we had a nice hot water bath and were out to explore the city by 9 am.Inverness is a city in northern Scotland and it's the northern most city in United Kingdom. It was a beautiful day and again we decided to walk around the city instead of taking the bus tour. Our first stop was a castle just 5 mins away from our B&B, it was a short uphill climb to the castle and we could see the cityscape from here. After a small photo shoot around the castle, we walked to the main Inverness city. The city is very well planned around the river Lochness. We walk around the main city market, doing a lot of window shopping and a little bit of grocery shopping i.e. for water, beer, chips & chocolates.

This quiet sea-side town near Edinburg in Scotland is perfect for the couple who cannot decide between the mountains and beach. St. Andrews offers the best beaches and the most picturesque mountains. As you explore the town's numerous castles and immerse in the Scottish culture, you are sure to feel like a countryside couple right our of a Victorian novel.Where To Stay:Read More

This quiet sea-side town near Edinburg in Scotland is perfect for the couple who cannot decide between the mountains and beach. St. Andrews offers the best beaches and the most picturesque mountains. As you explore the town's numerous castles and immerse in the Scottish culture, you are sure to feel like a countryside couple right our of a Victorian novel.Where To Stay:

The drive to Gleneagles made my heart glad because the beautiful countryside provided some of the kind of natural beauty that inspired me to write this post last year. It was both new, and familiar, and very inspiring. Though I couldn’t have imagined what fun awaited us when we arrived at Gleneagles. First, we had a Falconry lesson. It’s something I’ve always yearned to do yet believed wasn’t possible unless I visited the middle east, maybe a country like Jordan. I also had my doubts about the treatment of the birds but my mind was settled when I saw firsthand, and learned about, what great lengths they go to in order to take care of and fairly treat their hawks.